Euro 2008: Italy 1-1 Romania, Holland 4-1 France!

Jun 14

Buffon saves the last minute penalty, giving Italy one more chance to qualify.

Italy live to fight another day at the European Championships thanks to a late penalty save from goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in their 1-1 draw against Romania.

Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu had put the Romanians in front in the 57th minute only for Christian Panucci to equalise straightaway for the world champions, who suffered a 3-0 humiliation to Holland in their opening Group C game.

Panucci then brought Daniel Niculae down five minutes from time to concede the penalty, but Mutu’s effort from the spot was saved by Buffon.

The result means that Italy must now win their last game against France on Tuesday to stand any realistic chance of progressing.

Holland’s amazing gameplay buried France 4-1 to seal their ticket for the quarter-finals

Rampant Holland produced an attacking masterclass for the second time in four days to bury France 4-1 in Bern and seal qualification for the quarter-finals of Euro 2008.

Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring and Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder added others after the break as Marco van Basten’s in-form team sank the French in the same way they did world champions Italy at the same stadium on Monday.

Les Bleus’ consolation came through Thierry Henry on his return to the team, but even their revered defence could not handle the pace and brio of their opponents’ attacks.

France meet Italy on Tuesday but they both may be eliminated if Romania, who are second in the group, defeat Holland on the same night following their 1-1 draw with the Italians earlier, although this is highly doubtful considering the strong team Holland has put forth.

The Dutch, meanwhile, will now have to cope with the tag of tournament favourites after disposing of the two World Cup finalists of 2006 in sensational style, scoring seven goals in the process. They were bound to feel at home given the army of Oranje fans who had invaded Bern city centre during the day and then the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf in the evening.

Looking at the current standings, Holland is definitely a strong contender for the finals. With 7 goals scored in total, and definitely some more to come against Romania, the Dutch are finally proving themselves.